Weird passwd behaviour

Khannie

This kinda speaks for itself....

me@computa ~ $ sudo bash
computa ~ # passwd
New UNIX password: 
BAD PASSWORD: it is based on a dictionary word
Retype new UNIX password: 
passwd: password updated successfully
computa ~ # exit
exit
paul@computa ~ $ su -
Password: 
su: Permission denied
Sorry.

I've tried this several times with no result. Any ideas?

nuada

What password are you using the second time? the first or second one?

Also the BAD PASSWORD message is there for a reason. if passwd can figure out it is a dictionary word you may as well not have a password if someone is trying to gain access to your account.

joe_chicken

It seems strange alright, usually when it tells me it's a bad password it wouldn't change it, and force me to pick a better one. Have you tried with a different alphanumeric password?

niallb

Probably not a password problem at all.

Is the user paul permitted to su to root?

In a bsd style system, paul should be a member of group 'wheel'
to be allowed use su.

You use 'sudo bash' as me@computa to get root, so take a check in
/etc/group for all groups 'me' is a member of.
You might see an admin based one to which paul may need to be added.

humbert

could you try sudo passwd?

Khannie

nuada wrote:

What password are you using the second time? the first or second one?

Huh? It's the same one.

nuada wrote:

Also the BAD PASSWORD message is there for a reason.

True, but it still sets it without complaint.

humbert wrote:

could you try sudo passwd?

I've also done this. Same result.

Niallb: Didn't know that. I assumed once you had the root password you could login as root.

Interesting....I can login at one of the tty's using that password. I'll check out the group file. Cheers.

niallb

Hi Khannie,
as for logging in at the tty console, that's covered in /etc/securettys
For example, if you enable a serial console, you need to add /dev/ttyS0
or whatever to /etc/securettys to allow a root login on it.
Any console or virtual console not mentioned there will deny a straight
root login - you'll have to login as a normal user and use su or sudo.

scojones

As root, type: ls -la /path/to/su

Let us know the results.

nuada

can you switch to the root user by using
$ sudo su

is the user me in the /etc/sudoers file?
is the user paul in the /etc/sudoers file?


It does sound like /etc/securettys is your problem though

Khannie

scojones wrote:

As root, type: ls -la /path/to/su

Let us know the results.

paul@computa ~ $ ls -la /bin/su
-rws--x--x 1 root root 26480 Mar 25 14:45 /bin/su


There is no user "me", I just changed that in the initial text but omg, you all know my name now. :eek:

sudo su works.

nuada

Khannie wrote:

sudo su works.

Do you need to enter a password?

niallb

What distribution are you using?
This is probably a fairly specific problem.
Take a look at the output of var/log/auth or similar filename.
It should state clearly why it's denying access.

Khannie

Well....after discovering that it was inability to su (rather than passwd failing) I googled and found that on gentoo I need to be a member of the wheel group. Added myself and presto, I can now su properly (this affects things in gnome that require superuser privs etc.).

Thanks to everyone for the help. Much appreciated.